You may be wondering what butter is doing in our Cheesemonger column. We thought we'd make an exception, not only because butter and cheese are so closely related, but because this butter in particular takes pride in the fact that its production occurs only in the summer, from rich summer milk, just in the way that some cheesemakers adhere to a seasonal regimen for their animals' diets. Oh, and it's super tasty, too.

It's surprising that we have yet to highlight a butter brand in our Cheesemonger column, since cheese and butter are both essentially just different incarnations of the butterfat found in milk.

And considering the massive displays of Kerrygold butter and cheese that appear in abundance around St. Patrick's Day, this profile is especially timely. We hear it goes great with green beer.

Just check out the color of the butter: so rich, deeply golden, and luscious-looking. It's what butter should look like. And as for the flavor, expect the most clean-tasting, mild, and sweet butter you can imagine, with its silkiness in texture trumping all. Because of its higher butterfat content, the butter comes to room temperature more quickly, making that tedious act of softening your butter (or over-softening it, as the case may be) a non-issue. You'll find the texture fluffy and light, as if it were whipped. But don't let its textural lightness fool you: this ain't no low-fat fodder.

We haven't used it yet in pastry, but supposedly it's quite good. It makes a delicious butter cookie, and to that we can most definitely attest. It comes in both salted and unsalted versions, the latter of which is cultured, like Plugra or Lescure. And not only is the butter made strictly in summer months, it's made from the milk collected from a number of small family farms and cooperatives, all of which adhere to a grass-only diet for their cows. Sounds like cheese-speak to us, indeed!

Nora Singley is an avid lover of cheese, and for some time she was a Cheesemonger and the Director of Education at Murray's Cheese Shop in New York City, where she continues to teach cheese classes for the public. She is currently an assistant chef on The Martha Stewart Show.

(Image: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)

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Nora Singley used to be a cheesemonger and the Director of Education at Murray's Cheese Shop. Until recently she was a TV Chef on The Martha Stewart Show. She is currently a freelance food stylist and recipe developer in New York.